Chapter 30
What the fuckwas wrong with people? Why the hell didn’t they just answer their bloody phones?
Josh wanted to kill Liam—and Warren, but that would be a slower, more painful death—not visit him. And now they couldn’t even get hold of the bastard.
Liam’s phone just rang and went to voicemail every time Ellie called. He also wasn’t at his flat, despite it being nearly 10:00 p.m. He wasn’t at the pub, the gym, or any of the places Josh thought he could be. He wasn’t even at their mother’s house; all the lights were off when they crept slowly past.
Which was a problem. Because with every mile Ellie drove—every time he looked across at her as she piloted them back and forth, navigating the night-time roads—he remembered how easily she could’ve been lost. He remembered how badly hurt she’d been. How hard it was for her to get back into a car and out onto the road. And his rage grew.
Finally, there was only one place left to look. The one place Josh really didn’t want to go. He folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the night as he admitted, “He might be at the hospital.”
“Good idea.” Ellie glanced at him, a quick appraisal. “Do you want me to drop you at home before I try there?”
Yes and no. He wanted them to both go home and never leave—and when did he start thinking of her cottage as home?—but he wanted to stick close to her side far more. And if they did find Liam… well, that would be the perfect time to explain to his brother exactly how he felt about what had happened to Ellie. “I’d rather go together.”
“Okay, then.” Ellie turned a corner and pointed them toward the hospital.
There was only one local hospital large enough to take long-term patients with brain injuries, and Ellie had been there enough over the last few weeks; she probably knew the way in her sleep. Hell. They’d probably been there together, just a few floors apart.
She found a parking bay and turned off the engine before twisting in her seat to face him. “How are we going to do this?”
“We’re going to go in and find Liam.” And explain to him the consequences of bad choices.
Ellie laid her hand on his arm. “Do you really want to see yourself?”
Josh leaned back against his headrest. God, he was tired. Truthfully, he didn’t think he could see himself. He had no logical explanation. Not even a quip about the Upside Down. Just the same dread he’d had when he was looking for evidence of who he was. And a bone-deep knowledge that he absolutely could not go into that room.
“I can’t go into my room but—” He caught a glimpse of a tall man with dark hair and swallowed the rest. “Never mind. He’s here!”
They jumped out and jogged over to where Liam was making his way between rows of parked cars. “Liam!” Josh called. “Stop!”
His brother didn’t even pause.
“Liam!” Josh roared. But his brother didn’t respond at all.
Fuck. Shit. Damn it all. Liam couldn’t hear him.
Josh glanced at Ellie, already knowing she would understand.
“Liam! Liam Taylor!” she shouted.
Liam stopped and turned to face them, grimacing in confusion. “Who the—” He flinched bodily, stepping back. And then he turned away as if to run.
Ellie darted forward and got in his path before he could escape, just as Josh growled, reaching out to grab his arm. His hand went straight through Liam’s bicep with a spike of cold, and he flinched back at the same time Liam gasped out, “What the hell?”
Liam rubbed his arm roughly, trying to step around Ellie. But at least something of their childhood lessons had stuck, because he did it almost politely and completely ineffectively, before finally giving up and stopping in front of her.
At first glance, Liam looked largely the same as when Josh had seen him last. He had the same slightly too-long, dark, wavy hair. The same lean muscles. They were about the same height, but Liam had always come across as less intimidating than Josh. Liam was more charming. More friendly. More attractive.
Maybe that was part of the problem? Liam had always been a little too good-looking; cute enough to get away with hell as a child, and then handsome enough to continue getting away with it long past the age when he should have started to grow up. Long past the age when he should have stopped constantly looking for the easy way out of everything.
Liam sighed, his shoulders slumping. And, for the first time, Josh looked properly at his face, and then he couldn’t miss the changes. Liam looked as if he’d aged ten years overnight. He looked as if he was grieving. Guilt and shame warred in his expression.
“You were in my house,” Ellie said softly.
She didn’t say, “And you tried to kill me,” which was where Josh would have started. But Liam couldn’t hear him.
Liam dragged his hand slowly down his face, his shoulders curling even more. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not even going to deny it!” Josh muttered. How was he going to kill his brother when he couldn’t even touch him?
Ellie must have heard him, but she ignored his grumbling and focused on Liam. “Warren blackmailed you, didn’t he?”
Liam blinked at her. He clearly hadn’t expected her to know about Warren. But he didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. “He didn’t exactly blackmail me.”
“Then what the fuck did you do it for?” Josh demanded as Ellie raised her eyebrow.
“Warren said no one would get hurt. He guaranteed you would be in London overnight. He gave me a key to the back door; I didn’t even have to break anything. We could get what we needed to—” Liam cleared his throat, eyes darting away from her before coming back guiltily. “We needed you to sell the game. His girlfriend would get her share, and we would all get our money back. And you would walk away with a load of cash too. It would have been best for you too.”
“But I did get hurt! We were hurt,” Ellie snapped. “You broke into my house! How could you possibly convince yourself I wanted that?”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Liam replied. “It was just… I needed that cash. I thought there was a way for everyone to come out better off.”
“Cash! Money! What you need!” Josh stalked around his brother, wishing he could punch him in the fucking face. Wishing he wasn’t so bloody helpless.
“You did it all for money?” Ellie asked, echoing him, horror in her voice.
“Yes… no… none of this was supposed to happen.” Liam glanced back at the hospital, misery written in the red blotches staining his neck and face. “I am sorry. But my brother’s in there. He’s not waking up. And I need another opinion. We’re going to need private healthcare. Therapy… It’s so expensive!” The sheen of unshed tears caught the hospital lights. “I lost ten thousand pounds of my mother’s savings,” Liam admitted in a rough voice. “Warren said he’d give me the full amount back if I helped him.”
Fuck it all. His mum hadn’t mentioned the missing money. Probably because she knew what Josh would have said. “You arsehole!” He strode in front of Liam and gripped his shoulders, trying to shake him but failing. “You already helped him! You helped him to run Ellie off the road! And you’d already lost Mum’s savings!”
Liam blanched, his body wracked by a violent shiver. “What are you doing to me?” he croaked, stepping back. “Don’t do that.”
Josh wanted to follow and shake harder. Finally, he was doing something. Finally, Liam could feel him. But Ellie put her hand on his arm and steered him away. “You forced me off the road!” Ellie snapped at Liam. “I broke two ribs and punctured a lung! I nearly died. And Josh—” Her voice broke. “Josh was hurt even more.”
“I know,” Liam whispered. “I’m so sorry. Warren said he wanted you alone at the front so he could speak to you. I thought he was going to tell you to pull over. Like you had a puncture or something. He said you wouldn’t speak to him otherwise, no matter how hard he tried. That he just needed this chance to convince you to do the right thing for your friend. For everyone.”
“You didn’t think at all,” Josh spat, staying back. The temptation to strangle him was too high. And maybe Liam would feel it. Maybe it would actually make an impact.
“What do you want me to do?” Liam asked in a broken voice. “I’ll do it. Honestly. All I want is Josh back.”
Ellie sighed, softening. “Me too.”
Liam stared at her long enough—his gaze troubled enough—that Josh wrapped his arm around her and glared.
He needed to have his real body back, damn it. He needed to be able to hold her and kiss her and claim her so that everyone could see. So that Liam and the rest of the bloody world knew he was with her. So that they didn’t fuck with her ever again.
She leaned into his side, taking the support he offered. But to anyone else it would have just looked like she was standing slightly off-balance.
“How do you know my brother?” Liam asked.
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “We met cycling,” she said.
Josh huffed out a half chuckle at the dark joke. But then she continued and took the breath right out of his lungs. “He’s important to me.”
Josh tightened his hold on her and looked down to meet her eyes. “You’re important to me too,” he admitted softly, wishing he could have said it anywhere else than in a windy, gray hospital car park, two feet from his increasingly disturbed-looking brother, and a few thin walls away from his own unconscious body.